Please Click here for the February 2011 Good Planet Company newsletter!
We are featuring stories about 1% for the Planet, The Victoria Tea Festival, ethicalDeal and more. We hope you’ll check it out, and perhaps sign up to receive our newsletter on a regular basis.
The Good Planet Company’s December newsletter can be found by clicking right here!
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between memory foam and natural rubber? There are advertisements every day extolling the virtues of memory foam mattresses, but with a little research, some disturbing facts come to light.
Memory foam mattresses are made of polyurethane foam, a petroleum based material that emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can cause respiratory problems and skin irritation. They also usually contain the flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) which has been banned in Europe but is still used in Canada. This chemical can accumulate in fat tissue, blood and breast milk and has been linked to cancer and nervous-system disorders.
Here at The Good Planet Company, we have done our research!
Our mattresses originate from forests and fields, not chemical factories.
Our mattresses are made of the sap from organically grown rubber trees by a simple, chemical-free process. The sap is collected and baked into durable pure rubber mattress. No petrochemical additives are required, so the resulting mattress is VOC-free, durable yet supremely supportive and comfortable.
Our mattresses are wrapped in a thin layer of naturally fire-retarding wool (no PBDEs here!) and finished with a luxurious certified organic cotton ticking.
Our mattresses are crafted right here in Canada, and have a proven longevity of 20-35 years. And at the end of their long life, they are biodegradable!
The best thing of all… comfort.
Some memory foam companies might have you believe that their memory foam mattresses will soothe your back condition. The opposite is true… once your body heat warms the foam, you sink right into it… not a recipe for comfort! Natural rubber on the other hand responds to your body weight so when you lie on your side, there is more weight at your shoulders and hips so those points will sink into the mattress while your lumbar spine is still properly supported. When your spine is aligned you will reach the deeper levels of sleep and your body can begin to heal itself.
See for yourself… come in to The Good Planet Company and try out our five in-store display mattresses. We think you’ll be impressed.
We are occasionally approached by customers with a dislike for products manufactured in other provinces or countries. Some people are reluctant to buy anything made outside of our local community, some will not purchase anything made in the USA, and others are vehemently opposed to purchasing anything made in China.
When it comes to product sourcing and selection, The Good Planet Company is held to a higher standard than the big-box stores, department stores and mega-malls, and for this we are grateful! As a small, independent, locally-owned company, The Good Planet Company’s policy is to be honest and up-front about our products, while offering the best, safest, most durable and most environmentally sound products on the market. We also enjoy sharing our purchasing philosophy with anyone who has questions about it.
With increasing concerns about peak oil, climate change, food security and our shaky economy, there are sound economic and environmental reasons for buying products manufactured close to home, and as an ethically-run, environmentally conscious business, it’s our duty to look after our environment as well as our people (customers, employees and suppliers).
Although more than 75% of our goods are sourced from Canadian suppliers, a significant percentage of these goods, and the raw materials used to create them, are actually manufactured outside of Canada by environmentally sensitive, ethically run, foreign businesses. We strive to ensure that our suppliers, whether domestic or foreign, are ISO complaint in standards 9000, 14000 and 26000.
We would love to offer 100% Canadian goods, but it’s a fact is that over recent generations, Canada has divested itself of the capacity to produce enough consumer goods for it’s growing population. Despite being the 10th largest economy on the planet, manufacturing accounts for just 13% of Canada’s GDP. (BC is even lower, at 12%). Even if we wanted to stock The Good Planet Company with exclusively locally sourced and manufactured goods, there would be huge gaps in the product range that our customers have come to expect from us. We continue to encourage local manufacturers to approach us with new and innovative products.
So, as a responsible retailer, we do the best we can for our customers. Our focus is upon finding the safest, most durable, most fairly traded, most earth-friendly goods at the best price. Some products like stainless steel containers can only be found in the far east. Other products like our beautiful fair trade woven baskets can only be found in Africa.
We share the concerns of some of our customers regarding Chinese-made goods in terms of China’s politics and human rights abuses, yet as a responsible company, we must look at the bigger picture. China has developed it’s industrial might at an incredible rate, yet in terms of labour law, it’s lagging about 50 years behind the western world. Do we turn our comparatively wealthy backs on the Chinese worker so that they bear the brunt of their government’s policies and the western world’s indignation? Or do we continue to encourage the ongoing development of their burgeoning union movements, environmental improvements and living standards? For the benefit of our fellow workers in this global community, we feel the answer is obvious.
Here at The Good Planet Company, we continue to act locally and think globally. Our local community is important to us, and we do all possible to sustain it, yet at the same time, we do not turn our backs on the plight of others. In addition to our Canadian-made goods, we will continue to market a selection of goods imported from the USA, India, China, Australia and other countries, so long as they are safe, well-made, and not available within our own shores.
There’s a distinct possibility that within the next generation, Peak Oil may turn international trade and the global economy into a thing of the past, and we could be forced to re-build and re-tool our domestic factories, become more self-sufficient, and lead less consumer-oriented lives. Many who consider themselves “conservers” are already partly prepared for such an eventuality. The Good Planet Company counts hundreds of such people as our valued customers. We applaud them for their insight, and thank them for their support of our company with their purchases of our quality, durable products.
We’re not perfect, but we do our best! We always appreciate our customer’s comments and will always strive to give a well-thought out answer to your questions. If you have any thoughts or insights regarding this policy or any other, please feel free to e-mail us at feedback@goodplanet.com
Please have a look at our October newsletter!
We’re featuring our best deal ever on natural mattresses. But hurry, this promo has to end on October 31st!
Also, we have stories on Hollyhock, new inventory items, the evils of memory foam, Kiva, and lots more.
Thank you Viva for the wonderful mention of our toy bamboo cars and stainless steel lunch options in your eco chic section! This month’s edition of Viva Magazine has the amazing Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City 2 on the cover!
Check out this Canadian women’s natural health magazine online at www.vivamagonline.com
Check out our July newsletter! We have a good deal on mattresses, some baby news, a $5 coupon, a story about gratitude, a highlight on our stainless steel products, as well as our thoughts on the new HST.
In addition, if you or anyone you know would like to work with us here at “The Planet” please check out the details on our website or on Craigslist.
At last! It’s summertime in Victoria!
One of the highlights of the summer for The Good Planet Company as well as many other locally owned environmentally aware businesses is the annual Organic Islands Festival, talking place this coming weekend (July 10th and 11th) at the beautiful 100-acre Glendale Gardens conservation park.
This solar powered, zero-waste outdoor festival features music, entertainment and more than 150 exhibitors from across Vancouver Island. It’s our chance to reconnect with our customers, soak up some sun, and have a fun filled weekend. We hope you’ll drop by our booth in The Green Collective area of the festival.
If you want to buy your ticket in advance, they’re available right here at The Good Planet Company for $10 (adults) or $7.50 (senior/youth). See you at the weekend!
Organic Islands Festival 2010
Happy Earth Day from The Good Planet Company! Forty years after the very first Earth Day, our planet is under increasing stress from the demands of its resident 6.8 billion human beings.
Our customers frequently ask us exactly how does one “save the planet?” It’s so easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges we face from climate change, air and water pollution, habitat destruction and species losses. These issues, coupled with the baffling political processes in place to fix them, can make even the most optimistic of us wring our hands in frustration.
We think the best solution is to start out by saving ourselves, our families and our communities. Continue to reduce, reuse and recycle, to respect the cycle of nature, to live consciously, to act mindfully, to support grassroots organizations and to live well with less.
People power is strong! Let your friends and neighbours know that a Green life is a good life. As Mother Theresa once said, “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person”
Happy Earth Day! Enjoy!
